DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d) or (f), 365(a) or (b), or 386(a) based upon an application filed in the COUNTRY OF TAIWAN on 11/03/2023.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election without traverse of “Invention I (Claims 1-12)” in the reply filed on 03/26/2026, is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over US 2024/0213139 A1; Ray et al.; 06/2024; (“139”).
Regarding Claim 1. 139 teaches in Figs. 6 and 7A about an electronic device, comprising:
a substrate (Fig. 6, item 102) having a trench (Fig. 6, item 608); and
an inductor disposed on the substrate (Fig. 7A, trench inductor structure item 702 is disposed on substrate item 102), the inductor comprising:
a first conductive layer conformally disposed on the substrate (Fig. 7A, item 710a), at least a portion of the first conductive layer disposed in the trench (Fig. 7A, item 710a is disposed within the trench of item 102), the first conductive layer having a first end portion (Fig. 7A, end portion of item 710a in contact with item 704a) and a second end portion (Fig. 7A, end portion of item 710a in contact with item 706a); and
a second conductive layer conformally disposed next to the first conductive layer (Fig. 7A, item 710b is disposed next to item 710a), the second conductive layer having a first end portion (Fig. 7A, end portion of item 710b in contact with second from left-to-right item 704a) and a second end portion (Fig. 7A, end portion of item 710b in contact with item 706b) next to the first end portion of the first conductive layer and the second end portion of the first conductive layer, respectively (Fig. 7A, items 704a are next to each other, also items 706a and 706b are next to each other);
wherein the first end portion of the second conductive layer is electrically connected with the second end portion of the first conductive layer (Fig. 7A, second from left-to-right item 704a is electrically connected, through item 708a, with item 706a).
139 does not teach about an electronic device, comprising:
a second conductive layer conformally disposed on the first conductive layer, the second conductive layer having a first end portion and a second end portion on the first end portion of the first conductive layer and the second end portion of the first conductive layer, respectively.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to have adjusted the shape of an inductor, to include placing the loops of the inductor coil next to each other (while maintaining all the loops of the inductor coil within the trench), since it has been held that adjusting the shape of an article involves only routine skill in the art. In re Dailey, 149 USPQ 47 (CCPA 1966). See MPEP 2144.04.
Regarding Claim 3. 139 teaches in [0050] about an electronic device, wherein each of the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer is formed of a conductive material (“continuous coil of conductive material—an inductor—is formed by the conductive trenches 704a-704c”, [0050], Ln. 1-3).
139 does not teach about an electronic device, wherein each of the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer is formed of Cu, Al, or TiN.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have experimented using Cu, Al, or Tin materials for the coil of an inductor due to their electrically conducting nature, since it has been held to be within the general skill of worker in the art to select known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design variation and choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2 and 4-12 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims, since the prior art does not teach or suggest the claimed limitations.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JORGE ANDRES LOPEZ whose telephone number is (571)272-5763. The examiner can normally be reached M-F (8:30am to 5:00pm).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Fernando Toledo can be reached on 571-272-1867. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/FERNANDO L TOLEDO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2897
/JORGE ANDRES LOPEZ/Examiner, Art Unit 2897
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